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To mark grim Hurricane Sandy anniversary, groups plan to light up the shore

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Union Beach is one of the towns pummeled by Hurricane Sandy that will mark the anniversary of the storm by lighting up the shore. The borough is holding the event near where Jakeabob's restaurant was located. Here, Jakeabob's owner Gigi Liaguno-Dorr touches a blue ribbon tied to what used to be the restaurant's tiki bar on Front Street before it was completely destroyed by Sandy.
(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

With thousands of residents still displaced from their homes by Hurricane Sandy, groups throughout the region are planning to bring some light to an otherwise grim anniversary.

On the evening of Oct. 29, exactly one year since the powerful storm made landfall in New Jersey, residents will gather along the waterfront of communities in New Jersey and elsewhere with candles and flashlights to recognize the trials faced during the past year and to inspire hope in those still struggling. In Union Beach, where roughly 85 percent of the homes in town were flooded with at least two feet of water, a vigil will be held along Front Street.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Union Beach Mayor Paul Smith. “We have a lot of resiliency, a lot of hope and we’re going to get back.”

One massive storm.

Many towns devastated.

The Union Beach event, called “Lights of Hope,” is being held by the borough, Gateway Church of Christ and Jakeabob’s Bay, a local restaurant destroyed during Sandy. It will also feature a prayer service, singers and other entertainment.

Jakeabob’s owner Gigi Liaguno-Dorr said she hopes the event, which will be held near the former site of the restaurant at 525 Front St., at 6:30 p.m., will tell the world, “we’re here to fight. That everybody is still fighting and that we are supporting one another.”

That’s a message other groups in New Jersey and New York hope to send as well.

Townsquare Media -- which operates several radio stations in New Jersey, including NJ 101.5 FM -- along with Allstate Insurance Company and East Coast Roofing, Siding and Windows, is hosting a series of events statewide to mark the storm’s anniversary.

The groups' “Light Up New Jersey” effort will be held in a dozen locations, including: Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Bradley Beach, Brigantine, Keansburg, Seaside Heights and South Amboy.

At 6:30 p.m. participants will shine flashlights in a “moment of light” along the shore.

Staten Island will also hold a tribute on Oct. 29.

The Staten Island Community and Interfaith Long Term Recovery Organization invites community member to join its “Light the Shore” vigil. The group asks neighbors to light a candle by the waterfront closest to their home at 7:45 p.m. in “remembrance of our losses and to honor the way our community has come together.”